Closure device



W. A. SMITH CLOSURE DEVICE Jan. 26, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1958 INVENTOR. W52 fr ,4, 5M/nf Jan. 26, 1960 W, A, sMlTi-l 2,922,474

CLOSURE DEVICE Filed March 2e, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTR. Wifafl/ ,4. 5MM/f United States Patent() CLOSURE DEVICE Wesley A. Smith, St. Clair Shores, Mich., assignor to Tilt-A-Door Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation Yof Michigan This invention relates to a closure for a building opening and it particularly relates to a door of the overhead type particularly adapted for use in Very large building openings, such as utilized in aircraft hangars.

While the particular problem which gave rise to the present invention deals with aircraft hangar doors, it will be recognized that the invention itself is of such character that it can be utilized in a wide variety of situations where the problems it is adapted to meet are present, such as factory shipping doors, warehouse doors, barn doors and the like. Nevertheless, the problems involved in aircraft hangar doors will illustrate both the purposes and scope of the present invention and hence, for illustrative purposes and with no thought to limit, reference will be made in the following description to air plane hangar doors `for both setting forth the background out of which the present invention arose and for giving a speciiic illustration and example of one embodiment of the invention.

In the design of aircraft hangar doors, particularly, those intended for relatively large aircraft, there are a number of problems present which have been previously discussed in connection with the application of Smith and Ginther, Serial No. 635,370, and assigned to the assignee of the present application. While reference to said application is suggested for the full statement of such objects and purposes, it may be briey stated here for convenience in reference that it is desired to replace horizontally sliding doors by an overheadY type of door and yet have one which is suciently easy in its operation, economical in-its original construction as well as its subsequent maintenance that it will be a practical substitute for the presently relatively common horizontally sliding doors. Such horizontally sliding doors .are undesirable partly because of the space required between the hangars for them to operate and partly because of the diiculty of operating such doors. Previous attempts to replace such doors by overhead doors of the canopy type (such as illustrated by U. S. Patent No. 2,067,623 to Wesley A. Smith) have not been entirely satisfactory inasmuch as when canopy type doors are made in the sizes required for the very large openings here involved, they require either an excessive amount of head room or they extend outwardly from the pivot point an excessive distance. 'Ihis latter is undesirable in view of the heavy snow loadings often accumulated and in view of the damage which can be done to such doors by wind. Accordingly, it was the purpose of the invention set forth in said Smith and Ginther application to provide a door wherein the advantages of the canopy type overhead door are obtained and yet the disadvantages above briefly outlined may be avoided.

While the door set forth in said application of Smith and Ginther has been extremely satisfactory, there has been carried on a continuing effort to improve said door before placing same into general commercial production. Chief among the possibilities for improvement noted in 2,922,474 Patented Jan. 26, 1960 ice the experience obtained thus far, lies in the inherent weakness of the planar panel utilized to close an opening of the size involved here, which opening may for illustrative purposes be taken as one approximately fifteen or twenty feet high and forty to sixty feet long.

One particularly baffling problem lay in the wind effects on such a door when it was in its closed condition. Since there is no way vto reinforce adequately a door of such size across the hinge extending horizontally therethrough, it was'inevitable Athat such door would react to wind blowing thereon, particularly, where such a wind struck the door in a pulsating manner, said door would rattle in a manner which was disagreeable to personnel within the building and which imposed danger of damage to the door. i

Further, in saiddoor asV described in the above referred to application, the initial step for opening the door, consisted of movement of the hinge section of the door from a position within the common plane'of both the top and bottom sections of said door to a point a few inches outwardly therefrom. It was not practical to effect such movement by manual pressure thereon and if a strong` wind were blowing against the door concerned, it would be extremely diicult to effect such movement manually. It is, of course, entirely possible to initiate such movement by power means, but this adds further expense to the door and further problems in maintenance.

The present invention solves both of these problems by the simple expedient of combining said door with an outwardly projecting yjamb at either end of said door and effecting engagement of said door against said jamb when same is in a position such that the top and bottom section thereof are still at an appreciable angle to each other, such as an angle of approximately degrees.

Such a combination of a door having an upper and lower Y closing the'otherwise open Vend of said door creates an eifective closure for the opening concerned and effectively solves both Vof the above-identified problems.

Accordingly, the objects ofthe invention are to provide: v

l) A door construction of the generally canopytype adaptable for use with very ,large door openings, such as aircraft hangar, warehouse, factory shipping, barn and other similar large doors.

(2) A door capable of being made of relatively light construction and yet one which will have a high degree of strength when in closed position.

(3) A door of relatively light construction but one which when in closed position will be able to withstand relatively substantial mechanical forces applied thereto particularly wind forces.

(4) A door which will not be materially more expensive to build than doors previously known of the same general type.

(5) A door which can be opened and closed readily in a manner and by the means as shown and described in the application of Smith and Ginther, Serial No. 635,-

(6) A door which will have an attractive appearance in both opened and closed positions.

Other objects and purposes of the invention will become apparent to persons acquainted with constructions of this general type upon a reading of the following disclosure and an inspection of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

bodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line Il-II of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a section substantially as taken on the line III-III -of Figure 1 showing the door in end elevation and in open position;

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line IV-IV of Figlll'e 2;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the iine V-V of Figure 3-.

Figure 6 is a section taken on the line VI--VI Yof Fig. ure l.

' In General I In general the invention consists of providing an angularly shapedjamb at each end of the door opening against which the door closes. The shape of the jarnb being at an obtuse angle with its apex extendingoutwardly from the building with which the door is being used, causes the door to form an-obtuse angle when in closed position against said jamb with the apex Vof the door extending outwardly from the building. Thus, the angular position of the door provides the desired strength when same is in closed positionV and does so without detracting appreciably from, and possibly in fact adding to, the attractive appearance of the door.

Detailed description In describing a door embodying the invention, certain terminology will be used for convenience of reference and it will -be understood that it is utilized solely for convenience of reference and will not indicate any intention to limit. For example, the terms upward and downward and derivatives thereofk together with words of similar import, will refer to directions taken with respect` to the door in its normal position of use as well as directions appearing in the drawings. Terms rightward or leftward and derivatives thereof or words of similar import, will refer to directions as appearing in the drawings or in a particular'drawing under consideration in connection with'the use of such terminology. The terms inward and/ or outwardf and derivatives thereof or words 4of lsimilar import, will refer to directions inwardly or outwardly ofthe building with which a given door is being used.

Referring now to the drawings there is `shown in Figure l a building 1 having a door opening whose door opening is lled by a door 3. Said door 3 has an upper section 4 which is pivotally mounted (Figure 2) by pivot structure 6 onto a 'bracket 7 which is mounted to the inward side of the building Wall. Counterbalance structure S is provided at the upper end of said upper section 4. Said counterbalance structure may be of any known sort, such as shown in United States Patent No. 2,601,565. The lower section 9 of said door is pivotally connected by the hinge 11 to the lower edge of the upper section 4, said hinge structure including hinge elements 12 and 13 which are respectively connected to suitable portions of the upper and lower sections. A weatherstrip is secured to upper section 4 and overlaps the upper edge of the lower section 9 of the door.. The lower end of said lower section 9 carries a roller 14 which is received within and runs vertically within channel structure 16, which channel structure is here formed by the combination of -a Z-bar 17 (Figure 4) together with a channel 18. The free flange 19 of the Z-bar is fastened in any convenient manner, as by bolting, -to the inside surface of the wall structure 1,.

Suitable manual or power-operated means may be provided for effecting opening and closing of the door as set forth in detail in said application of Smith and Ginther, Serial No. 635,370. For present purposes, the manually operated pull cord 21 may be taken to sutticiently illustrate the use of such operating means. Said pull cord 2l is connected to a bracket 22, then extends through a prulley r23 and downwardly to connect tothe `lower endet the lower section 9.

It will be seen from a comparison of the description thus far presented with said application of Smith and Ginther, Serial No. 635,370fthat the door thus far described is substantially the door described and illustrated in more detail in said application.

Turning now to the present invention, an angle 26 defines one jamb for the door and has one of its flanges 28 arranged parallel to the plane of the door opening and its other flange 29 arrangedperpendicularly to said plane. The outer edge of the flange 29 is, however, arranged to deiine an obtuse angle in a vertical plane (Figure 3) and the ange 28 follows said outer edge. Thus, said tiange 28 defines an obtuse angle with its apex extending outwardly from-the building on which it is mounted and the flange 29 closes the zone between the flange 2d and the channel 18. The angle 26 is, in the present embodiment, affixed to the channel i8 in any convenient manner, as by bolting, welding or otherwise.

A similar angle jambl is provided at the opposite end ofthe doorope'ningnamely, at the rightward end as appearing in Figure l.` The door structure 3 is of such length as to' fit between .the angle jambs 26,-and 31 at each side of said door and said doorstructure has flanges 32 and 33, respectively, extending'over the flanges 28 of the angle jambs. Thus, when said door `is in closed position as shown in Figure 2, said door is closed snugly against the angle jambs 26 and 31 and said jambs in View of their connection with the building walls, elect an effective kclosure of the space wliich'would otherwise exist between the ends of said doorsandthe walls defining the door opening. Y

Thev lower end of said door section9 may have a flexible and resilient weather 'strip 41 at Vits lower end which bears against the floor 42 ,ofthe building when the door is in its closed position.

While the lower edge o-f the lower section 9 may rest on the floor of the building in' any convenient manner, one particularly eifective device for this purpose is sho-wn in Figure 6. One or moretof such structures may be located as desired along the length of the lower side of said door but it has been found in a door of normal construction that a` device of this character is advantageously located about every ten feet.

Recess 43 is provided in said floorhaving a sloped side 44 on the outward side of 4said opening. A pin 46 is atiixed by any suitable bracket 47 to the lower portion of the door section A9. andinas its lower end receivable within said recess 43'. When 'the door is moved to its closed position, the lower end of pin '46 will initially strike the vslopedmwall 44 near the upper Yedge thereof. As movementof the door is continued toward the completely closed position, the pin 46 is urged further downwardly in the recess 43 and it willsimultaneously'pull the lower edge ofthe door inwardly and thus insure an extremely tight tof the door against said -jambs. It will be observed that the extremely high mechanical advantage obtained by a small pressure on'the door .structure in the region of the hinge pin 11 in an inward direction will effect anextremely great forcedownwardly on said pin 46. Thus, the pin 46 moves downwardly as far as possible Vand effects a firm tightening of the lower edge of the ,door with respect to the walls of the door opening. This minimizes the likelihood of either air leakageraround the sides of the door or the likelihood of any vrattle developing in association with said door in response to wind or other mechanicalforces applied to the door.

It will be vrecognized that the angle between the two section 28a and 28h of theange 28 of the jamb member 26 or 31 will be somewhat a matter of cho-ice depending upon the structural strength of the door and the forces, largely wind, which it will be expected to withstand. It will be evident from a consideration of conventional building .principles that the greater the lateral strengthV ofthe door structure or the lower the forces to be withstood, thegreater lsaid `angle c an be made, vand vice versa. In the present embodiment, the angle is approximately 170 degrees and this angle will be found satisfactory for most uses of doors built according to the present invention.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that the essentials of the invention may be applied in a variety of different embodiments and accordingly the hereinafter appended claims will be interpreted to cover such embodiments excepting as such claims may in their own express terms provide otherwise.

What is claimed is:

l. A door structure of the overhead type particularly adaptable for closing very large openings in a building, comprising in combination: a pair of jamb members afxed to the building and positioned adjacent the surfaces defining the sides of said opening, the outer edges of said jamb members each dening an obtuse angle whose legs extend upwardly and downwardly from the apex thereof;

a door having upper and lower sections hingedly con- Y nected to each other, the upper section being mounted near the upper edge of said opening for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, the side edges of said door sections being sealingly engageable with the outer edges of said jambs when said door is in its closed position, said upper section lying against the upper leg of said obtuse angle and the lower section lying against the lower leg of said obtuse angle and the apexes of said angles being substantially in horizontal alignment with the hinge conuection between said upper and lower sections, said door being liftable out of engagement with said jambs into an open position; whereby when said door is in its said fully closed position said upper and lower sections form an obtuse `angle with respect to each other and the edges of said door are by said iambs connected in weather-sealing relationship with the surfaces of said building dening the sides of said door opening.

2. A device defined in claim 1 wherein the apexes of said jambs are located outwardly of the building.

3. The device dened in claim 1 including vertically extending guide tracks secured to the side edges of said opening; guide means on the lower edge of said lower section and guided by said guide tracks whereby the lower edge of the lower section of said door is pivotally and slidably maintained in the same vertical plane as the hinge upon which said upper section turns.

4. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said jambs have anges on their outer edges, which flanges include transversely extending elements parallel with the plane of the respective sections of the door when it is in closed position, and wherein said door has sidewardly extending anges which overlap and engage said jamb anges when said door is in closed position for eecting a snug sealing relationship therewith.

5. A door structure of the overhead type particularly adaptable for closing very large openings in a building, comprising in combination: a pair of similar jamb members aixed to the building adjacent the side edges of said opening and extending vertically thereon, the outer edges of said jamb members each including a pair of legs extending upwardly and downwardly, respectively, from a meeting point at an obtuse angle of less than 180 with respect to each other; a door having upper and lower sections hingedly connected to each other, the upper section being pivotally mounted on said building near the upper edge of said opening for pivotal movement and the lower section being guided for vertical and pivotal movement with respect to the building, said upper and lower door sections being of substantially the same length as said upper and lower legs, respectively; the side edges of said upper door section lying against said upper legs and the side edges of said lower door section lying against said lower legs and the hinge connection between said door sections lying substantially in horizontal alignment with said meeting points so that said door sections lie at an obtuse angle with respect to each other when said door is in its closed position; means dening a recess in the lower edge of said opening in said building, said recess having downwardly converging side walls; a pin rigidly secured to said lower door section adjacent the lower edge thereof, said pin being engageable with a side wall of said recess and being urged inwardly thereby when the door is being closed whereby said door is urged inwardly so that the side edges thereof are urged into sealing engagement with said jamb members.

6i. A door structure of the overhead type for closing an opening in a building, comprising: a pair of similar jamb members affixed to the building adjacent the side edges of said opening and extending vertically therealong, the central portions of said jamb members being disposed outwardly of the upper end portions of said jamb members; a door having upper and lower sections hingedly connected to each other, the upper section being pivotally mounted on said building near the upper edge of said opening for movement around a substantially horizontal axis into and out of an inclined, closed position adjacent said jambs; means engaging the lower section of said door for guiding the vertical and pivotal movement of the door with respect to the building; interengageable means on said building and the lower section of said door whereby said door is urged inwardly so that the side edges thereof are urged into sealing engagement with said jamb members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,947,691 Baldwin et al. Feb. 20, 1934 2,274,216 Sanders Feb. 24, 1942 2,790,210 Falconer Apr. 20, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 477,402 Italy Jan. 21, 1953 

